Delcy Rodríguez announces an amnesty to "repair wounds" in Venezuela

BarcelonaVenezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, proposed a general amnesty law on Friday to "heal the wounds" left by the political confrontation in the South American country. The measure would benefit political prisoners detained from 1999 to the present, a period that spans several administrations. At the opening ceremony of the judicial year at the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), Rodríguez instructed the Commission for Judicial Revolution and the Program for Coexistence and Peace to present the law to the National Assembly, the country's parliament, "in the coming hours." Deputies loyal to the current regime hold a majority in the Venezuelan parliament, so the measure is highly likely to pass without obstacles.

"May this be a law that serves to heal the wounds left by political confrontation, by violence, by extremism; may it serve to restore justice in our country and may it serve to restore coexistence among Venezuelans," said Rodríguez, who is serving as interim president of the United States and was transferred to a New York jail on January 3. The Venezuelan president indicated, however, that this amnesty will exclude people prosecuted or convicted of homicide, drug trafficking, and human rights violations.

Rodríguez also requested that El Helicoide, the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) in Caracas, which NGOs and opposition members have denounced as a center of "torture," be converted into a social and sports center. He announced this proposal weeks after US President Donald Trump, with whom Rodríguez's government is engaged in negotiations, spoke of closing a "torture chamber" in the Venezuelan capital.

So far, Rodríguez's government has released more than one hundred people detained for their opposition to Chavismo, despite criticism from the opposition, which considers the releases insufficient.